After nearly six months of regular-season games and three rounds of the playoffs, the NBA is right back where it was a year ago.

The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs remain the only two teams standing, just as they were when the championship round took place last June.

The two franchises that have combined to win seven of the past 15 titles are back again in the NBA Finals and they have a tough act to follow after what happened in 2013.

Back then, the Spurs let a fifth championship slip away in a painful Game 6 overtime loss and they were edged in the closing minutes of Game 7 as the Heat won a second straight title.

Now, in the rematch, there is plenty of motivation fueling the Spurs and the Heat in a series that begins tonight in Texas (9, Channels 5 and 12).

For the Spurs, it is a golden opportunity to redeem themselves after not closing out the Heat in what turned out to be a Game 6 nightmare.

For the Heat, this is a chance to win three straight championships, something that has been done only five times in the history of the league.

When they met a year ago, it was back and forth as the Spurs won Games 1, 3 and 5 while the Heat took Games 2, 4 and 6 to reach the winner-take-all showdown.

The Spurs had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 6 in Miami and, in the final minute, fans were exiting the building before the Heat somehow forced overtime.

Former Celtics guard Ray Allen hit an incredible 3-pointer from the right corner to force OT, where the Heat won.

The NBA has not had a rematch in the finals since Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls frustrated the Utah Jazz in 1997 and 1998, denying Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton championships.

It seems fitting that the Heat and Spurs are back together after what went on a year ago and there were no worthy opponents to stop them in either the Eastern or Western conferences.

The Heat are 12-3 in the postseason while the Spurs are 12-6, clinching the conference title on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder despite not having Tony Parker in the second half of Game 6.

Credit the Spurs from rebounding after what happened last June. They shook off the fact that a title got away and put together another strong season.

Gregg Popovich continued to show why he is one of the all-time great coaches in the NBA while Tim Duncan, at the age of 38, is still a dangerous player to go with Parker and Manu Ginobili.

The Spurs, who won their first title in 1999 when Duncan was in his second season, have had remarkable success finding quality players for their roster, such as Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw and Danny Green.

Page 2 of 2 - As for the Heat, they are in the finals for a fourth straight year with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and are looking to join the ranks of the top teams ever.

The only other teams to win at least three titles in a row were the Celtics (eight straight from 1959-66), the Minneapolis Lakers (1952-54), the Chicago Bulls (1991-93 and 1996-98) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02).

James & Co. got together in order to be a dominant team and another championship would put them in elite company.

The Heat were fortunate to get past the Spurs a year with an amazing rally in Game 6, but this time around, things will be different.

San Antonio, with home-court advantage and a lot of motivation, will prevail in seven games.

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.